In today's world, people love electronics. One person could have a smart-phone, an organizer, a computer tablet, a digital camera, various lap tops, portable music players, or portable video games. These electronics are an important part of people's everyday lives and have moved past their intended purpose to become fashion accessories in their own right.
A drawback to these devices is that their internal batteries need constant recharging by with an AC or DC adaptor and a power source. People have chargers for all of their devices, and when traveling, it is hard to organize all of these chargers and find enough accessible wall sockets to distribute power to each device. Having an electric circuit guised as a practical carryall would distribute the current needed to recharge or power these devices and give a compartment to carry them when traveling.
Although the present invention provides for an electric circuit guised as a carryall, there are inherent risks with directing current close to fabric materials. At any moment the circuit is at risk of overloading, being compromised by a moist environment, or having limited air circulation for venting heat. Because one embodiment of the invention includes a small carryall made from light weight materials used in the fashion and apparel industry, it is important that these risks are fully appreciated to provide a safe electric device.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,714,713 to Parajon discloses an electric outlet.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,586,849 to Tarr discloses a power strip that uses a computer's USB current as a trigger to allow current to flow through an electric circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,206 to Wong et al. concerns a cube shaped apparatus for distributing power having only USB jacks. The electronic circuit recharges more than one device and provides data communication between electronics. The apparatus has two plugs and may receive power from a wall socket or from another electronic device by a USB plug.
U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2006/0280519 filed by Mori et al. concerns a charging station in the form of a tray that has a surge protector underneath. The tray holds the electronics during recharging when current flows through the attached surge protector. The surge protector circuit is separate from the tray and can be disconnected from each other during the recharging of electronics. Mori discloses the use of USB hub that can be connected to the surge protector, but the USB hub is not a part of the surge protector circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,891,495 to Nobles et al. discloses a bag for housing batteries.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,036 to Muncy et al. discloses an electric accessories bag for storing appliances and toiletries. The bag is made like a suitcase and has two sections that are hinged together. The first section has a retractable cord that extends interiorly through the bag. The power strip is disposed within the first section of the bag. The first section also has pouches to receive toiletries.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,982,138 to Krieger discloses a portable power source for recharging car batteries. The power source includes an industrial DC battery housed in the bottom of a workman's bag. The workman's bag is made from a heavy duty impact-resistant polyethylene case. The DC battery is connected to a pair of heavy jumper cables. In another embodiment, the bag is made of a flexible yet heavy duty material and contains a 12-volt, 3 amp-hour (up to 7 amp) battery and a separate inverter, a 50 Watt (up to 100 Watt) inverter, to convert current from DC to AC. The bag weighs up to 5 lbs. Krieger discloses the use of one AC socket.
U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2005/0156564 filed by Krieger discloses a tool box power center. The tool box supplies power to power tools, e.g. electric saws, drills, screwdrivers, and etc. The tool box has a cavity for storing these tools. Although not disclosed by Krieger, the tool box should be made from industrial materials. A DC battery is disposed in the floor of the tool box and supplies power for recharging car batteries, powering tools, or electronics. The tool box also requires an inverter to convert DC to AC, where the tool box provides at least one AC socket. The tool box is also supplied with jumper cables. The tool box may also accommodate an air compressor and a battery charger. A plug is needed to connect the tool box to an AC outlet to recharge the battery.
U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2008/0258677 filed by Lee discloses a power supply having batteries and multiple USB ports.
All references either disclose heavy bags having an internal power source for supplying power to devices for industrial uses or devices that use uncovered powerstrips for distributing power to a load. None describe an electric circuit guised as a practical carryall that distributes both AC and DC power simultaneously, where the device minimizes the risks of having current distributed near fabrics. Therefore, there is a need for the present invention.